Chapter 20: Arthur Svensson: side story
Side story no.1: Arthur Svensson- The prospect.
Arthur Svensson. Yep that is the name my two fully Danish parents decided on when I was born. Apparently it's "kingly and benevolent" and easy for most people to say. To be honest, I never had a tough upbringing like most footballers today will say "I used to play in the mud" or "Football saved my life, I'd be in prison right now." Nah, this isn't a rags to riches typ'a story. I am average, always have and probably always will be. That is the crime of being born "Average". You can never go past that threshold. I guess I realized it early on. In first grade, everyone choosing sports they like and I chose football. Not because I liked it or was good at it. But because it was the "average" sport for boys. But my "average" choice turned into my first love. But because I was "average" in every position I never actually got to be a first team player, even in primary school. But in 3rd grade our goalkeeper could not play for some reason and I had to fill in. Since that they I have never left the two sticks on my sides.
Probably took this football thing seriously when I turned 12, my parents decided to pack me and my siblings and move us to South Africa, Capetown to be exact. There, I joined an academy, became a goalkeeper and got signed by Supa Strikas a few years later to be Part of their academy. An "average" time there got me a senior contract when I was 19, and they immediately shipped me off to Norway to get some cash on me.
To be fair though. I was never going to be anything more than a quick cash grab for them. A goalkeeper, good enough to be a second or third choice in most teams in the continental leagues, but not good enough to make a single Matchday squad for any of those teams. The ultimate "average" Player. But every single person who has seen me in front of the net always says the same thing. "Your prospects and potential are so high." F#$k that, prospects and potential don't mean nothing if you are never given a chance to show them. "Arthur Svensson is a great kid, great potential, good skill, just needs work."
Maybe I'll never get the chance was what I had come to accept. So why the f#$k am I currently standing in front of a goalpost, with one of the best players in the world lining up a shot against me who is wearing a captain's Armband in the Super League final?...
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